A Spring Day at Lemsford Springs

21st March 2022

A lovely spring morning so time for a visit to Lemsford Springs. As I opened the flap on the hide I could see that most of the usual suspects were present, including a lone Little Egret just standing around in the cress beds. I am not saying that Little Egrets have ever been numerous here, but I feel that they are not as numerous elsewhere as they were a few years ago.

A pair of Teal were dabbling in the muddy shallows. The speculum of the female looks blue but I can assure that it was green and it just a trick of the light.

On the nearby sleepers a male Grey Wagtail was busy feeding and was searching through all the nooks and crannies of the sleepers and in amongst the stones on the gravel bed.

I am not sure whether this is food or not.

Four Green Sandpipers were present and there was a good deal of flying around and calling during territorial disputes. It won't be long now before they depart for their breeding grounds in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

A new species for me at Lemsford was a Fox, although one has been photographed on a number of occasions recently. It loped slowly along the far bank before disappearing over the bank of the River Lea.

But the stars of the show today were the Mandarin Ducks of which there were five, 2 pairs and an odd male. Mandarin is also a new species for me at Lemsford although these have been present for some time now. Isn't the male absolutely cracking?

The female is a duller bird although still attractive, especially with that little bit of white eye-liner.

And to finish off, here they are being photo-bombed by a Little Egret!!!